Feather-pine christmas tree and method of making same.



P. w. HOFFMAN. FEATHER PINE CHFHSTMAS TREE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME,

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 15. 1917- mswsa Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

PAUL N. HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FEATHER-PINE CHRISTMAS TREE ANDMETI-IOD OFMAKING SAME.

masses.

Specification of Letters fatent.

flmtentcd Jan. e, 1 9t 8.

Application filed October 15, 1917. Serial No. 196,645.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL I HOFFMAN, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at New York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feather-Pine ChristmasTrees and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description:

This invention relates to a process of forming the branches, twigs, etc, which go to make up an artificial tree, particularly a Christmas tree. My invention will produce what is known as a feathenpine Christmas tree, it being an improvement over the method heretofore employed in that such a tree can, by my process, be produced much cheaper and more quickly than by the method now in vogue.

As far as I am aware, artificial Christmas trees are produced by wiring what is known as preserved feather-pine stems to a wire, a combination of these wires and attached stems being assembled into the form of a tree by employing branches into which the wires, to which the stems are attached are inserted. The wiring of these stems to the supporting wire is a slow and tedious process; furthermore it is not a substantial structure as the stems fall over during shipment and handling.

While I employ a supporting wire and the preserved stems which are attached thereto, I employ an entirely diiferent means and method of securing the stems to the supporting wire, producing a much more substantial structure.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, the novel features of which, I will point out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentary view illustrating my improved method of assembling the stems preparatory to application to the supporting wire;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating a portion of a finished strip;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a form of winding mechanism which forms a part of the operation of forming the strip;

Fig. i is a side view thereof; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, the.

section being taken on a line 55 in Fig. 8.

To carry my invention into practice, I employ a tape 6 (Fig. 1) of any deslred length,

and to the tape I secure, at certain intervals,

twigs 7 of preserved feather-pine, or the like.

The twigs 7 are secured to the tape by being stitched as indicated at 8; hence they are securely fastened thereto and cannot come off.

After the tape has been prepared by scouring thereto the desired number of twigs, it is wound upon a supporting element 9, consisting preferably of a wire that can be bent or flexed. To facilitate the operation, I preferably stretch the wire from a swivel 10 to a rotatable ring 11 (or chuck, if desirable), carried by a disk 12 on a shaft 19. rotated by a belt 13 and pulley 14:, the shaft being supported by a bearing 15. One end of the prepared tape is fastened to the wire 9 as at 16, Fig. 1. After the tape has been secured to the wire 9, the machine will be started and the wire 9 will revolve, thereby winding the tape thereupon, as indicated in Fig. 2. WVhile the tape is being wound upon the wire, it is passed over a roller 17 running in glue, paste or cement 18 (see Fig. 5) in a pot 19. The pot 19 is slidably mounted upon a square rod or support 20, and as the tape winds up upon the wire 9, the pot will be correspondingly moved along the rod 20. The tape, as well as glue-pot, may be fed by hand or otherwise. The cement or glue, which is applied to the tape, will cause the superimposed convolutions to adhere together and will also aid the stitching to secure the twigs to the tape. In short, the cement or glue will act to produce a substantially integral mass after it has dried. Any device that is arranged to revolve the supporting wire will answer for my purpose, the device herein described being illustrative only.

The finished article will consist of a long strip of wire covered, as described, by the grouped twigs of feathered-pine. As the twigs are preferably evenly spaced upon the tape, they will be evenly grouped around the wire 9, and not in bunches, as frequently occurs with wiring methods.

After the tape has been completely wound upon the wire 9, it may be secured at its end to the wire by wiring or otherwise.

It will of course be understood that my invention is adaptable not only for Christmas tree branches, but also for the manufacture of artificial wreathes and kindred articles.

l/Vh at I claim as my invention is:

1. An article of manufacture consisting of a strip of flexible material having stitched thereto in spaced relationship twigs of feathered pine or the like.

2. The method of forming branches for artificial Christmas-trees, consisting in permanently securing in spaced relationship twigs of feathed-pine or the like to a flexible tape, and winding said tape around a supporting wire after the twigs have been secured to the tape.

3. The method of forming branches for artificial Christmastrees, consisting in stitching twigs of feathered-pine or the like to a flexible tape, ap 'ilying cement or glue to said tape, and finally winding the cement coated tape around a supporting wire.

4. The method of forming branches of artificial Christmas-trees, consisting in first independently and permanently securing to a tape a plurality of twigs of feathered-pine or the like in spaced relationship, then winding the tape having the previously spaced twigs to a supporting wire, and securing the ends of the tape to the wire.

5. As a new article of manufacture, an artificial Christmas-tree-branch, consisting of PAUL N. HOFFMA N.

Witnesses MAURICE Bnooi-i, EDWARD A. JARVIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

